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New Autumn Budget for 2018

25-10-2018, 02:20 AM

Autumn Budget coming next Monday 29 Oct 2018.

The Treasury said Mr Hammond will set out the government’s plan to build a stronger, more prosperous economy, building on the recent Spring Statement and last year’s Budget”.
Mr Hammond has already hinted that he will scrap the eight-year freeze on fuel duty in the Budget, telling MPs the impact of the policy must be “looked at again”.

He said the freeze had saved the average car driver £850 and the average van driver more than £2,100.

The BBC reported on 27 Sept 2018,

"The average price of a litre of fuel in the UK is now around £1.31 for petrol and £1.35 for diesel."

But with the pump price at £1.31/litre , it does not feel like we have been given savings of £850 ?

Are we going to be hit by rise in petrol price ??? Better fill up your tank before Monday AM.

Hi Gordon999 , TM announced on the 3rd October “Fuel duty will be frozen for the ninth year in a row, Theresa May has pledged, an announcement that will leave the chancellor with a deep hole to fill in his October budget.
I think it is a case of wait until Monday but as I have a voucher for treble Nectar points I think I will get the cars filled up just in case.

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The problem is that most people are experiencing a lower standard of living than they were 5 years ago as wages haven't kept pace with (the admittedly low) rate of inflation. The high street is dying on its arse while we watch because disposable income reduces all the time and people have started to reach the limit of the credit deb they're prepared to carry.

Everyone wants a better NHS, more policemen, councils that collect rubbish and so on.

So the jobs impossible. You can't tax most people more to pay for the services they want. The options are to tax the better off more (and that never works), tax businesses more (which isn't likely because of Brexit) or think of new things to tax.

The last chancellor with a new idea was Mr Osborne, who realised that increasing the minimum wage was a tax on businesses and people that no one could really complain about - so my prediction is another increase in that. And maybe limiting tax relief on pensions to the basic rate of tax.

When I post, I am expressing an opinion - feel free to disagree, I have been wrong before.
Please don't act on my suggestions without checking with a grown-up (ideally some kind of expert).

Comment

I don’t know why they keep increasing the minimum wage? It doesn’t make anyone better off as it just makes everything more expensive through higher inflation. Plus no one else gets such large pay rises. So you end up with a very flat pay scale at the bottom.

about 4-5 years ago my wife started a job that payed about £2 per hour more than minimum wage. Now that the minimum wage has been increased several times and her wage has not by the same amount, she is on maybe 30p per hour more. How long before I’m on the same as rate as minimum wage earners? Makes you wonder if it worth getting any qualifications.

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I don’t know why they keep increasing the minimum wage? It doesn’t make anyone better off as it just makes everything more expensive through higher inflation.

Inflation is running at a remarkably low rate.

Because chancellors don't like to be seen taxing businesses, increasing the wage bill of companies at least increases the tax revenue from income while looking like it does workers a favour. I agree that it can have the effect of setting a benchmark, rather than being a minimum.

The brutal truth is that companies are simply not increasing wages and the gap between the wealthy (who own and run businesses) and normal people widens all the time. The UK is one of the worst performers in this area.

When I post, I am expressing an opinion - feel free to disagree, I have been wrong before.
Please don't act on my suggestions without checking with a grown-up (ideally some kind of expert).

Comment

Let us all not forget Britain is one of the greatest places to live in the entire world. Increasing tax does not increase the tax take - They dropped it from 28% to 19% but they have taken more tax at the lower rate. They increased stamp duty to a much higher rate and have taken less tax.

This is what Labour fail to see that you can not just tax, tax, tax. I can run my companies at a loss if I choose to do so through re investment, increasing my costs, paying myself other bonuses etc... If someone has 100 shops and the tax rate rises they can just buy 10 more shops, spend money on refurbishing them, spend money on extra stock to fill them, a few delivery vans, security systems etc.. etc...

This is the reality of how business works. The more you tax them the more they will look for ways around it.

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Hech123, the best response I have had the pleasure of reading, absolutely spot on and to put the icing on the cake I couldnt help but squirm at the proposals made by John McDonnel , the Marxist shadow chancellor.

2 likes

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Labour are living in a bygone time unfortunately. It is very worrying that they are or at least seem to be getting such support for policies which would utterly destroy the Country and set us back many years. Take it from me and many people I know the flight of capital (a lot of mine included) which would happen should they get close to power would be absolutely like nothing ever witnessed before except maybe the Greek crisis or Venezuela. The models they are working on are on todays economy, by the time they take office the economy will be massively reduced. I am actually already moving towards more liquid assets and have been for 12 months, I am also moving towards less UK assets fort his specific reason. Lets hope it never comes to this

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As far as I can see, letting relief is pretty much toast for non-resident landlords. And, as far as I can see, the 18 month final period exemption for someone renting what was previously their home has also been reduced to 9 months.

The actual budget document says " To better target private residence relief at owner occupiers, from April 2020 the government will reform lettings relief so that it only applies in circumstances where the owner of the property is in shared occupancy with the tenant. The final period exemption will also be reduced from 18 months to 9 months. The government will consult on these changes. There will be no changes to the 36 months final period exemption available to disabled people or those in a care home."

What is clear is that they're expecting it to bring in £15m more tax next tax year and £50m the year after. So it's clearly not good news for landlords and they're not expecting the consultation to change much.

When I post, I am expressing an opinion - feel free to disagree, I have been wrong before.
Please don't act on my suggestions without checking with a grown-up (ideally some kind of expert).

Comment

John Socha, 60, says the budget is “another turn in the screw” for landlords. In a little-noticed move in the budget, landlords will no longer be able to claim the £40,000 lettings relief on their capital gains tax (CGT) bill when they sell a property.

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